Rhodea japonica, Roth. wan nian qing 萬年青

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Rhodea japonica, Roth. wan nian qing 萬年青

Researchers from University of Tokushima, Japan, found extracts of Rhodea japonica re
cytotoxic. The main ingredient contributing the cytotoxity of Rhodea japonica is rhoexin
A. The IC(50) value for rhodexin A against the growth of human leukemia K562 cells
was 19 nM. [1] Rhodexin A at 30 nM started to attenuate growth without affecting
viability and further increases in the concentration of rhodexin A (100 nM or more)
completely inhibited growth with decreasing viability. Rhodexin A at 30-100 nM
increased the G(2)M population, but decreased the G(0)G(1) population, suggesting
cell cycle arrest in the G(2)M phase. Rhodexin A at 100 nM increased the number of
cells with hypodiploid DNA, indicating that rhodexin A induced apoptosis.[2] Thus,
rhodexin A may benefit people at risk of cancer or be candidate for chemotherapy. But,
lots more clinical studies are needed to prove if it is really effective in use for cancer
prevention or treatment.

Reference:

[1] K, Kuninaga H, Nishizato Y, Nonaka A. [masuda@ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp ] Cytotoxic
screening of medicinal and edible plants in Okinawa, Japan, and identification of the
main toxic constituent of Rhodea japonica (Omoto). Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2003
Jun;67(6):1401-4. [2] Umebayashi C, Yamamoto N, Nakao H, Toi Y, Chikahisa-
Muramatsu L, Kanemaru K, Masuda T, Oyama Y., Flow cytometric estimation of cytotoxic
activity of rhodexin A isolated from Rhodea japonica in human leukemia K562 cells. Biol
Pharm Bull. 2003 May;26(5):627-30.

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